May 28, 2018

Issue No. 386 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting salutes a summer reading recommendation, Leaders Eat Last. Simon Sinek writes, “Trust is like lubrication. It reduces friction and creates conditions much more conducive to performance.” And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and check out more summer reading list nominees on this webpage.

Why We Have Leaders

On this Memorial Day in the U.S., I’m launching a series of summer reading suggestions. If you missed my review of Leaders Eat Last in 2015 (a Top-10 pick), here’s your second chance. Enjoy this poignant military story.

I know. I know. In every issue, I rhapsodize about yet one more humdinger of a book. A must read. The-answer-to-all-your problems. Sorry.

But…you can blame Jerry White for this one. When Jerry and Mary White speak, I listen. I write it down. They are the real deal—and they don’t speak, write or recommend lightly. Jerry emailed me on the last day of 2014: “One of my bell-ringers this year was Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek. Secular, but with such strong biblical ideas. Gen. [4 star] Kevin Chilton put me on to that book.”

So I’m torn: give you the 30,000-foot view—or entice you with a powerful story? Let’s go with the story.

The Ceramic Cup(an excerpt from Chapter 8, “Why We Have Leaders”)

I heard a story about a former Under Secretary of Defense who gave a speech at a large conference. He took his place on the stage and began talking, sharing his prepared remarks with the audience. He paused to take a sip of coffee from the Styrofoam cup he’d brought on stage with him. He took another sip, looked down at the cup and smiled.

“You know,” he said, interrupting his own speech, “I spoke here last year. I presented at this same conference on this same stage. But last year, I was still an Under Secretary,” he said. “I flew here in business class and when I landed, there was someone waiting for me at the airport to take me to my hotel. Upon arriving at my hotel,” he continued, “there was someone else waiting for me. They had already checked me into the hotel, so they handed me my key and escorted me up to my room. The next morning, when I came down, again there was someone waiting for me in the lobby to drive me to this same venue that we are in today. I was taken through a back entrance, shown to the greenroom and handed a cup of coffee in a beautiful ceramic cup.”

“But this year, as I stand here to speak to you, I am no longer the Under Secretary,” he continued. “I flew here coach class and when I arrived at the airport yesterday there was no one there to meet me. I took a taxi to the hotel, and when I got there, I checked myself in and went by myself to my room. This morning, I came down to the lobby and caught another taxi to come here. I came in the front door and found my way backstage. Once there, I asked one of the techs if there was any coffee. He pointed to a coffee machine on a table against the wall. So I walked over and poured myself a cup of coffee into this here Styrofoam cup,” he said as he raised the cup to show the audience.

“It occurs to me,” he continued, “the ceramic cup they gave me last year . . . it was never meant for me at all. It was meant for the position I held. I deserve a Styrofoam cup.

“This is the most important lesson I can impart to all of you,” he offered. “All the perks, all the benefits and advantages you may get for the rank or position you hold, they aren’t meant for you. They are meant for the role you fill. And when you leave your role, which eventually you will, they will give the ceramic cup to the person who replaces you. Because you only ever deserved a Styrofoam cup.”

YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:1) Talk about the “ceramic cups” you enjoy in your present position. Are you holding onto them loosely—or with a tight grip?2) One of Sinek’s key pillars is what he calls a “Circle of Safety” in the workplace. He says work-life balance “has nothing to do with the hours we work or the stress we suffer. It has to do with where we feel safe.” So….what enriches that safe feeling in our department or organization—and what detracts from it? (The book has insights on this.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the chapter, “Eliminate Hallway Whining” in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, Dan Busby and John Pearson note, “In the hallways of boardrooms, perhaps the most constant whine is, ‘We don’t hear anything from our CEO in between board meetings. How can I steward this ministry, if I’m not in the loop?'”

Solution!“Tool #5: CEO’s 5/15 Monthly Board Report” is a simple add-water-and-stir template, and when formatted by the CEO’s assistant, takes the CEO just 15 minutes to write—and five minutes for board members to read, each month. Presto: Communication! News! Information! Encouragement! No Whining!

Tool #5 is just one of the 16 tools in the new resource, Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance. And...you have access to the downloadable forms.

Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As a board member and raving fan of Christian Community Credit Union (a non-profit), we proudly list the credit union as our top pick for serving your financial services needs.

May 16, 2018

Issue No. 385 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting highlights the “softer side” of leadership—and this challenge: if you actually read some of the sections to your spouse (or a colleague), you are in the right lane. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and on this page, check out my Top 10 Book Recommendations of 2017, and my Book-of-the-Year pick.

"Hello Marylou!"

Ken Blanchard suggests you read fewer books, but—get this—read a book four times because “…the gap between knowing and doing is probably wider than the gap between ignorance and knowledge.”

Reflecting on Frederick Buechner’s insights on how life batters leaders—prompting us to bury our true selves then “live out all the other selves, which we are constantly putting on and taking off like coats and hats against the world’s weather…”—Habecker writes:

“…I can remember a very specific situation in which I was so bruised and battered by a particular leadership issue that I had functionally abdicated my presidential leadership assignment to an outside consultant. I remember walking around the block, complaining all the while about this to Marylou. Finally, she looked at me and simply said, ‘You need to go back upstairs and be the president.'” Hello Marylou!

Blind spots? Habecker says all leaders have blind spots. The problem: we’re blind to our own blind spots—and that creates frightening situations. He quotes Henri Nouwen in the important chapter, “Welcome Self-Discovery Learning.”

Nouwen: “…the house I had finally found had no floors…. It seemed as if a door to my interior life had been opened, a door that had remained locked during my youth and most of my adult life… The interruption…forced me to enter the basement of my soul and look directly at what was hidden there.”

So Habecker reflects on one blind spot: busyness. “When Marylou and I were on our last sabbatical, she threatened to give me an ‘F’ in Sabbatical because I found it was very hard to detach from work in the way Nouwen describes…” Hello Marylou!

Now here’s a gut check for you (no pun intended). One of the essential soft skills of leaders is addressed in the chapter, “Practice Consistent Fitness Renewal.” The dilemma: so much to do, so little time. Who has time for fitness renewal?

Gene and Marylou were discussing John 17:4, “I have brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you gave me to do.” Habecker notes, “I focused on ‘doing everything,’ and eagerly launched into my speech about needing to be better organized, more productive, and more effective so I could get more done. Frankly, my ‘to-do’ list was already becoming unmanageable. Marylou patiently listened, then she quietly, but importantly, reminded me that I had missed one part of the main teachings of the verse.

“She focused on the words, ‘you gave me to do.’ As she explained it, based on this verse and others, our priority work ought to be focused not on everything that could be done, but rather on what God has specifically given or called us to do. And that is the agenda that becomes our priority. Not my agenda, but His agenda.” Hello Marylou!

In addition to the “Hello Marylou” interludes, you will deeply appreciate this one-of-a-kind Leadership 401 grad school course on the softer side of leadership (never taught and rarely caught). Habecker’s diligent work is easy-to-read on a challenging-to-live topic: • Each chapter includes a summary page, “The Chapter Idea.” • Each chapter concludes with “Putting the Idea to Work.” • A final “To Summarize” paragraph nails the big ideas.

Certain themes will resonate with certain leaders. Some of us are blessed with “Marylou’s” in our lives (thanks, Joanne!) which helps. Maybe a test of your leadership will be if you read the most convicting paragraphs to your spouse or a colleague. Yikes.

My favorite think-about topics (during my second read): two questions from Patrick Lencioni; five questions from the HBR article, “Being a Strategic Leader Is About Asking the Right Questions;” charismatic listeners; what the 9/11 Museum missed; self-abandonment vs. self-fulfillment; and this from Simone Weil: “There are only two things that pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction.”

Habecker’s footnotes invite leaders into a treasury of deep thought about the softer side of leadership from not-so-softies. His quotes from The Seeking Heart, by Fenelon, prompted me to pull out my unread copy and add it to my summer reading list. On difficult circumstances, Fenelon inspires: “The events of life are like a furnace for the heart. All your impurities are melted and your old ways are lost…”

Finally, Gene’s chapter on creativity is a whack-on-the-side-of-the-head. Convicting, but inspiring! I’m a big fan of creativity—but it challenged me in new and fun ways. Read about his reluctant visit to the Crayola Experience (now in four cities) when guess who admonished him, “Why are you just standing there watching and observing? Grab some paper, crayons, and start coloring something—anything—and don’t be afraid to color outside the lines.”Hello Marylou!

YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:1) In his chapter, “Stay Connected to the Heart,” Habecker writes, “As heart work is done, focus more on asking ‘what’ questions, not just ‘why’ questions. Rather than asking, ‘Why did that happen to me?’ focus more on questions such as, ‘So what can I learn from this situation? How can I grow?’” Share two more “what” questions with us.2) In the chapter, “Protect Sacred Space and Enable Deep Thinking,” he notes, “If what people experience on the outside, however, is not grounded by some kind of transcendent or spiritual depth on the inside, the leadership persona or façade will be eviscerated the first time an organizational storm is experienced.” What patterns do you have in your life to ensure the presence of sacred space? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Five-Finger FeedbackInsights from Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance

“Five-Finger Feedback” is one of the 16 tools and templates I’ve used regularly. At the end of any meeting, ask each participant to rate the effectiveness of the meeting on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 is high), by holding up one to five fingers. You can also survey each participant twice:

• Question 1: My engagement in this meeting was a…• Question 2: The overall effectiveness of this meeting was a…

The workbook includes access to all 16 downloadable templates including: the “Prime Responsibility Chart” (one-page), the “Board’s Annual Self-Assessment Survey,” the “CEO Monthly Dashboard Report,” and the "Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan Placemat" and more. When you use all 16 of these time-saving solutions, you'll wonder why you didn't discover them sooner.

Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As a board member and raving fan of Christian Community Credit Union (a non-profit), we proudly list the credit union as our top pick for serving your financial services needs.

May 08, 2018

Issue No. 384 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting recommends a chewable book for your summer reading list on the top 10 leadership conversations in the Bible. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and on this page, check out my Top 10 Book Recommendations of 2017, and my Book-of-the-Year pick.

Chewable Books

Steve Moore, president of nexleader and former president and CEO of Missio Nexus, embarked on a two-year search for leadership gold from Genesis to Revelation. Good news! He struck gold and he’s sharing the loot with us!

When Don Parrott recommended Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Strengthening the Leadership of Your Soul, he warned me: “At the end of every chapter, you’ll need to take a long break to pray and reflect on the convicting insights.” He was right. I eventually meditated through the entire book. Whew. I named it my 2009 book-of-the-year. Chewable—but chew slowly.

My suggestion: don’t rush through The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible. Add it to your chewable list.

Disclosure: I fully read every book I review. I don’t scan, skip, or speed-read. I underline, highlight, and write notes (by page number) on the blank pages—as prep for my reviews. But not this book. I sensed I should slow down—not for the review, but for the chew.

So when I joined Steve Moore’s trek for leadership gold, wondering what themes made his Top 10 list of leadership conversations in the Bible—I skipped to “Chapter 8: Humility.”Did I mention—chewable?• “Pride hides from the consciousness of leaders behind a mask of overconfidence. Overconfidence isn’t just annoying to followers. It is dangerous for leaders.”• Did you ever read this parenthetical note in Numbers 12:3? “(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone on the face of the earth.)” • “I find it easier to admit my lack of patience than my lack of humility.”

There’s more from Moore:• He references Larry Osborne’s insights: “The journey to accidental Phariseeism begins with a blind spot, not a sin spot.”• “Busyness is one of the most common ways to reinforce leadership status, so survival and status become symbiotic, to everyone’s detriment. The leader thinks, I must be important or I wouldn’t be so busy.”• And this insight from Dallas Willard: “God never gives anyone too much to do. We do that to ourselves or we allow others to do it to us.”

Is Your Board a “Zombie Board?”• “The survival instinct for leaders is automatic. The more our work thrives, the more we want to protect it. That’s why the first expression of groupthink in a nonprofit board is making organizational perpetuity, rather than mission effectiveness, its highest objective. These kinds of nonprofits, even faith-based ones, are like zombies. They can get scary ugly, but they are nearly impossible to revive and hard to kill.”

Pages 130-143 on humility are so, so chewable. Warning! The chapter includes five very convicting questions.

But before you skip to the humility chapter—scan the context, “The Reason and the Research Behind This Book.” Moore identified 1,181 leaders in the Bible (including 108 in the New Testament) and mined for gold with six core questions, including: Who is the leader? Who are the followers? And What is the leadership situation? Each chapter includes a helpful diagram of these elements using Moore’s “Leadership Triangle.” Brilliant!

Join me in chewing through this special book. I will weigh in from time to time later this year, with reflections and/or reviews of other chapters. For now, it’s on my summer vacation reading list. (And thanks to Steve Moore for sending me a review copy.)

P.S. Stock up on summer reading—and delegate your reading—with Eugene Habecker’s hot-off-the-press book (my next review), The Softer Side of Leadership: Essential Soft Skills That Transform Leaders and the People They Lead.YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:1) Steve Moore quotes Elizabeth Elliott: “The best way to find out whether you have a servant’s heart is to see what your reaction is when somebody treats you like one.”Why is it so hard to have a servant’s heart?2) Moore says that leaders who rarely say, “I was wrong,” or “I don’t know,” should make us nervous. Instead of accepting responsibility for mistakes, “…there is always an explanation, a rationalization, or outright blame. It is the adult version of ‘the dog ate my homework,’ but the stakes are higher.” Discuss!- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

16 Tools and TemplatesInsights from Mastering the Management Buckets

New this spring, Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for the Nonprofit Board features 16 tools and templates that have been field-tested by hundreds of CEOs and nonprofit board members. These "add-water-and-stir" practical tools will enhance your board's productivity, mission impact, and joy. Each tool has been tested and then tweaked across North America in boardrooms and meeting rooms. Boards especially appreciate the "CEO's 5/15 Monthly Report" template. CEOs all give a thumbs-up to the "Board Member Annual Affirmation Statement."

The workbook includes access to all 16 downloadable templates including: "Ten Minutes for Governance," the "Board Retreat Trend-Spotting Exercise," the "Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan Placemat" and more. When you use all 16 of these time-saving solutions, you'll wonder why you didn't discover them sooner.

Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As a board member and raving fan of Christian Community Credit Union (a non-profit), we proudly list the credit union as our top pick for serving your financial services needs.